Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat Beg was a Chagatai Turco-Mongol military general, ruler of Kashmir, and a historical writer. He was a Turkic speaking Dughlat prince who wrote in the Persian and Chagatai languages. Prince Haidar was a first cousin of Prince Zahir, their mothers were sisters. . The obverse legend reads al-sultan al-a'zam Muhammad humayun ghazi.
Life
He first campaigned in Kashmir in 1533, on behalf of Sultan Said Khan, of Kashgar. He drove out Kamran, second son of Babur. However, he did not stay long in Kashmir, leaving after making a treaty with the local sultan and striking coins in the name of Said Khan. Mirza suffered a military defeat and then made a treaty with the Kashmiris. His short stay may have had something to do with the fact that Said Khan died in that year. He returned in 1540, fighting for the Mughal EmperorHumayun, first son of Babur, this time for a military takeover at the invitation of one of the two rival factions that continually vied for power in Kashmir. This was shortly after Humayun's 1540 defeat at the battle of Kanauj, where Dughlat was also on the losing side. He had also attacked Tibet through Ladakh but had failed. Arriving in Kashmir, Haidar installed as sultan the head of the Sayyid faction, Nazuk. In 1546, after Humayun recovered Kabul, Haidar removed Nazuk Shah and struck coins in the name of the Mughal emperor. He died in 1550 after being killed in battle with the Kashmiris. He lies buried in the Gorstan e Shahi in Srinagar.
Works
His historical work Tarikh-i-Rashidi is a personal memoir combined with a Central Asian history written in Persian. Mirza Muhammad Haidar devoted this extensive work, written in Kashmir from two volumes, to contemporary ruler of KashgariaAbdurashid Khan, son of Sultan Said Khan, founder of Saidiya state or Yarkent Khanate in Kashgaria in 1514 with active and decisive support of author's uncle Sayyid Muhammad Mirza. It was translated into English in 1895 by Ney Elias and Edward Denison Ross. Among other events, the Tarikh-i-Rashidi describes the founding of the Kazakh Khanate in 1465 and Muhammad Haidar Dughlat's personal encounter with one of the early Kazakh rulers, namelyKasym Khan.
Family
He belonged to the family of hereditary rulers of Kashgaria - dughlat Amirs. His father was Muhammad Hussain Mirza Kurkan, son of Muhammad Haidar Mirza Kurkan, son of AmirSayyid Ali Kurkan, son of Amir Sayyid Ahmad, son of Amir Khudaidad, who is said to have raised to khanship six of the Moghul Khans as well as making a pilgrimage to Makkah, Shama-i-Jahan, Muhammad, Nakhsh-i- Jahan, Shir Muhammad, Vais ), son of Amir Pulaji, who raised to the khanship a young, 18- years old, Tughluq Timur Khan, in 1347, having brought him from Ili to Aksu and declared him to have been the grandson of Duwa Khan. Amir Pulaji was a descendant of Dughlat Tarkhan Babdaghan, who was granted the countryMangalai Suyah or Kashgaria by Chagatai Khan, second son of Chengiz Khan, in 1219 or 1220. His mother was Khub Nigar Khanim, third daughter of Yunus Khan by Isan Daulat Begum, and a younger sister of Kutluk Nigar Khanim, mother of Babur. Mirza Muhammad Haidar governed Kashmir from 1540 to 1551, when he was killed in battle. Muhammad Haidar Mirza Dughlat was his grandfather.
Films
In 2007, Kazakhfilm Studio released the documentary Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, directed by Kalila Umarov.
